News flash to the University of Oregon football players who came forward in the recent ESPN article to share the news of their pot use - get ready for increased drug testing next year and in the NFL.
Yes, it's not so much news as it is newsworthy, since you rarely hear marijuana in conjunction with athletics other than when there's a mugshot involved, but college students smoke weed, which include the players on the team. And they admit it. An NCAA study released in January had 22.6% of athletes hitting it, which is up almost a point and a half for the last study in 2005. College football players ranked highest (pun intended) among major sports with more than a quarter smoking their eighths.
The article sourced 19 current and former Oregon players and officials who chronic-led the last 15 years of smoking. Former Ducks player and current pros estimated that 40-60% of the squad lit it up, and current Ducks concur on that figure.
Even though we all knew what was going on, it is a major revelation to see it so candidly confirmed. I mean, it is Oregon and not, say, BYU, so we can't be too shocked, but as marijuana becomes more commonplace - and more legal, it could just be a matter of time before this is a small footnote. And I've always been impressed with athletes being able to perform well and still have drugs in their system that are not performance enhancing. So if you can toke a little and still play to your potential, where's the downside?
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